The Danger of Small Things / Caryl Lewis / Book Review
THE DANGER OF SMALL THINGS The unthinkable has happened: the bees are gone. The pollinators have vanished, and the balance of the planet has shifted. Famine and fighting break out. Resources are scarce. What we have, we have to hoard for our survival. Jess doesn't remember a time when there were bees. She doesn't remember the world before scarcity. She hardly remembers life before she was taken from her home, conscripted by the government like every other young girl to pollinate crops by hand. It's hard work, in the beating sun, and she doesn't even get to see the (literal) fruit of her labor. Anything good is reserved for trade and bargaining, not for girls like her. But despite everything, Jess is her mother's daughter. The years her mother hid her instilled in her hope, a sense of rebellion, and even the harshest punishments of this government camp can't quell that. Plus, she has something the others don't have...